Syria: amateur video purports to show more violence in Homs

Reports of violence cast doubt on whether an Arab League plan can end months
of bloodshed triggered by a popular uprising against the regime of the
Syrian President.

5:10PM GMT 05 Nov 2011

Syria has pledged to withdraw forces from its streets by Sunday under an Arab League-brokered "peace deal" which calls for an end to violence, the release of those detained, the withdrawal of the army from urban areas and free movement for observers and the media, as well as talks between the regime and opposition.

But tank fire has killed at least five civilians and wounded dozens in the besieged Syrian city of Homs today, activists and residents said. This brings the total number of deaths by troops in Homs since Tuesday to at least 82.

Amateur video uploaded to a social media website today, but which cannot independently verify, also purports to show glimpses of the security forces' continued crackdown on opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's regime and its effects.

One video shows a tank apparently in a residential street in Homs and another video records gunfire purportedly in Bab Amro, near Homs.

Activists said troops in Homs raked residential buildings with machinegun fire on Friday, killing six. There were mass demonstrations in the city, with protests also reported in the southern province of Daraa and in the eastern cities of Deir el-Zour and Qamishli.